Unity Week Special (5)

Welcome to the 5th episode of the Unity Week Special on the blessed birthday anniversary of the Messenger of Mercy, Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny).

The Unity Week, which we said in our previous episodes, spans the two dates of the month of Rabi al-Awwal believes to be the blessed birthday of the Prophet of Peace – 12 as the Sunni Muslims claim and 17th as the Shi’a Muslims assert – is the symbol of brotherhood between Shi;a and Sunni Muslims and struggle against the archenemies of Islam, the Global Arrogance, thanks to the dynamic initiative taken forty years ago by the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), in order to assemble the Ummah on a single platform of solidarity.

Global Arrogance, spearheaded by the US, advances war against Islam in two ways: fomenting of sectarian differences among Islamic communities, especially between Sunnis and Shi’as; and spreading a global fear of Islam and Muslims. The goal of Global Arrogance is to plunder the resources and wealth of the Islamic countries and create a safe margin for the Zionist regime of Israel in the heart of the Islamic world. Creation of discord was initiated in West Asia and the entire Islamic world by the wicked British Empire more than two centuries ago. They pursued the motto, “Divide and Rule”. This ominous scheme is being now practiced by the US, the fabricated Zionist regime and their allies and accomplices.

A brief look at history reveals the black and dark pages of the British crimes in the Muslim lands. The Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says, “The British have always been the source of evil and wickedness in our region. The blows that they dealt to the nations of this region might be matched by a power in few regions in the world. In the Subcontinent they dealt such blows; they pressured the people so badly; in Afghanistan in another way, in Iran in a different way, in Iraq in yet another way; and finally in Palestine they put into effect that sinister and wicked move and made Muslims, and in fact a whole nation, homeless, and expelled people en masse from their houses. A historic country that had been known since thousands of years ago - by the name of Palestine- perished with the policies of the British! In this region, since two centuries ago- nearly from 1800 on- whatever the British have done were evil, corruption and threat.”

British colonialism has a long record of fanning the flames of discord among Muslims and Islamophobia. They used to promote racial and sectarian differences. The British made use of temptation and deception of some Muslims to infiltrate in the ranks of Muslims and put into practice their nefarious designs.

An example of the British designs in the Islamic countries can be seen in the 1920 revolution in Iraq. When the British intended to occupy Iraq and pillage its resources, they faced the united ranks of Shi’a and Sunni Muslims. The letters of Mass Bill, the advisor to then British envoy to Iraq, reveal how he was scared of unity among Muslims. He wrote to his father, “We are exposed to intensive chaos and we are worried. Hardliners have adopted a method that is difficult to struggle: it is the unity between Sunnis and Shi’as; it means unity in Islam. They misuse this issue in the best way. The celebrations of Ramadhan are sometimes held in the Shi’a mosques and some times in the Sunni mosques. There are participants from both sects. In these ceremonies, panegyrics, poems and speeches are delivered that relate religion with politics. All of these ceremonies are concentrated around enmity with disbelievers.”

What made Mass Bill concerned was a real worry given that he could understand the conditions of the 1920 revolution and the presence of people on the scene. Today, also, the US, Zionist regime, Britain and their partners-in-crime are strongly pursuing the old policy of divide and rule. They pursue many colonial goals via creation of problems in the Islamic lands. Through generation of outfits like Wahhabism, and its terrorist offshoots such as Daesh, Al-Qaeda and Taliban, they want to spread demonize Islam in the eyes and minds of people in the world. These gimmicks have increased manifold since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran and the call of unity by the father of the revolution, Imam Khomeini.

The enemies of Islam spend exorbitantly on causing rift among Muslims. They set up satellite channels to provoke Sunnis against Shias and vice versa. The Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Khamenei, calls these two currents as the British Shia and American Sunni. He says, “We do not accept a Shi’a schools whose center and base of propaganda is London. This is not the Shi’a school that the Infallible Imams promote and wanted. This Shi’a school is based on causing difference, preparation and smoothing the road for the presence of the enemies of Islam; this is not Shi’a school at all. It is deviation.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, the leader said, “The British groomed Shi’a and American groomed Sunni are the two blades of the same scissors. Their effort is focused on causing infighting among Muslims and fomenting differences.”

 Dr. Hassan Rahimpour Azghadi, Iranian university professor, explaining the Leader’s remarks on the type of Shi’as that are being promoted from London, says that this is the same thought that led to the isolation of Imam Husain (AS) on the day of Ashura. They were the pseudo-Muslims who told the Imam, “It is not expedient to stage an uprising.” As a result, out of 100,000 Muslims who had promised to help the Imam, only 72 people helped him.

In the view of Dr.Azghadi the British Shi’a and the American Sunni are the same people who see Imam Husain (AS) but they are not ready for jihad, martyrdom, captivity, promotion of what is good and prevention of what is evil. They believe in a version of Islam that is not troublesome for the usurpers of power and resources of the oppressed and downtrodden nations. Such Muslims are just seeking the pleasures of this world; while none of the Infallible Imams had a comfortable life.

Dr.Rahimpour Azghadi maintains that if the Imams had not pursued politics, at least one of them should have died naturally; whereas they were either killed at war or at the altar of worship or through poison!!! These great figures, due to standing against oppressors and tyrants of their era, were either tortured or imprisoned. And finally they were martyred. Today, disunity is a lethal poison for Muslims.

That’s why Ayatollah Khamenei says, “When we chant the motto of unity we should pay attention to these two points as they are the things that are constructive for the practical life of Muslims. One of these points is to remove differences, contradictions, conflicts, oppositions and obstructionisms that have been there among Muslim sects and communities since centuries ago; and these contradictions have always been detrimental to Muslims. The second point is to put this unity at the service and in the way of the Islamic rule; or else it will be absurd and senseless.”      

President Assad’s Victory Lap in Tehran Mirrors US Defeat

By: S. Nawabzadeh

Iran’s ties with Syria are strategic and steeped in history, going back two and-a-half millennia, including the 719 years of Roman-Persian Wars in the Levant that effectively thwarted European attempts to dominate West Asia, and as borne out by the current events, if not for the Islamic Republic’s wise response to the request for help from Damascus in 2011, not just Syria would have succumbed to the satanic onslaught of terrorists of all hue and colour backed by the US, Western Europe, the illegal Zionist regime, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, but the peace and security of the Iranian people would have been at stake, in view of the incursions these devilish forces had made in Iraq.

Monday’s visit to Tehran by President Bashar al-Assad and his vital discussions with his hosts, in addition to his expression of gratitude for the timely assistance that saved Syria – and consequently Lebanon and Iraq – once again proved the wisdom of the Islamic Republic’s principled policies and the fact that like the Roman Empire of the past the United States of America cannot dent the iron resolve of the Resistance Front.

Here, we are not discussing the Battle of Carrhae (presently on the SyriaTurkey border) in which the Parthian General Surena inflicted a resounding defeat on the Roman Republic of Julius Caesar in 53 BC; nor the capture of Roman Emperor Valerian by his Sassanid counterpart Shapur I to save Syria; and neither the string of victories by the mostly Persian Muslim armies of the Isfahan-based Seljuqs over the Byzantine Empire in Levant and Anatolia – Manzikert and the capture of Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes being the high water mark.

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution, while clasping his guest, expressed the heartfelt sentiments of the Iranian nation when he said: "Iran is proud of supporting Syria”.

Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei rightly pointed out to President Assad that the triumph of the Resistance Front in Syria has made American mischiefmongers angry and prompted them to hatch new plots, saying: "The buffer zones (on the Syria-Turkey and Syria-Iraq borders), which the US is seeking to set up in Syria, are among those dangerous plots that must be categorically rejected and confronted.”

Bashar, whose late father President Hafez al-Assad was a staunch supporter of the Islamic Republic and during the 8-year war imposed in the 1980s by the US on Iran through Saddam of the repressive Ba’th minority regime of Baghdad had closed the Iraqi oil pipeline to Syria’s Banias Port on the Mediterranean Sea, was confidant of final victory against the devilish designs of the US, the Zionist regime and Saudi Arabia, in view of the support to his government by all strata of people, including the Kurds and the Arab tribes, whom the Americans have failed to deceive.

It is interesting to note that among other participants at the meeting was Major-General Qasem Soleimani of the Islamic Revolution’s Guards Corps (IRGC) who heads the indomitable liberation unit, the Qods Force, which played vital advisory role in the victory of the Syrian people and army over the US-Zionist backed rebels. 

President Assad also met with his Iranian counterpart President Hassan Rouhani, who recently attended the tripartite summit in Sochi with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Rajab Tayyeb Erdoghan, to discuss ways of resolving the crisis in Syria.

Fortunately, Turkey has realized the futility of turmoil in Syria which might boomerang and is making earnest efforts to defuse the crisis through negotiations that would preserve its interests as well as security in the Kurdish areas.

In view of these facts, Ankara may not agree to Washington’s mischief of a buffer zone on the border with Syria, while Baghdad has already rejected such a notion, saying that outsiders will not be allowed to harm relations with either Damascus or Tehran. 

This warrants the defeated Americans, if they have any sense left, to learn the lessons of history and withdraw their illegal forces from both Syria and Iraq. If not, they will face further humiliation, since the survival for long of the Zionist regime is out of question.

Iran has the determination, the technology, and the Islamic faith to protect its brethren in the region, and there should be no mistake about this.

In conclusion, it would not be out of context to cite a paragraph from Mathew Merighi’s thought-provoking article published in 2014 titled: "Lessons from History: The Parthian Defeat of Rome”, in which he likens Iran’s mastery over ballistic missile technology as the famous Parthian shot of the mounted Iranians of the ancient times that had routed the Roman legions.

He writes: "The cruel lesson for the United States to take from the Roman experience with Parthia is that an adversary with technology designed specifically to defeat its army, combined with stronger political will, is bound to come out on top of any conflict. Defeat does not just come on the battlefield. 

Just like Rome, the United States has a great number of serious threats… Unlike many of these antagonists (and the Parthians before them), the United States does not have the luxury of dedicating its resources to confront them. 

The United States’ political system, after years of war and deep partisanship that conjures images of Caesar’s Rome, is brittle and unable to tackle any of these challenges.

Putin highly regards Ayatollah Khamenei's viewpoints

TEHRAN, Sep. 17 (MNA) – Senior Adviser to Iranian Leader, Ali Akbar Velayati, said on Sat. that Russian President Vladimir Putin attaches great deal of importance to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution and his viewpoints.

The former Iranian foreign minister made the remarks on Saturday morning while answering the questions posed by the participants at the Scientific Seminar on Defining Iran’s Strategic Foreign Policies with the theme of “A View on the East” at Islamic Revolution Institute in Tehran.

During the Q&A session after his address, Mr. Velayati rejected the point made in a question posed by some participants that ideology does not play a role in the foreign policy of the western countries.

“There is no country or bloc in the world that does not move within the framework of a collection of aspirations which can be named causes or values. Even the US, which is pioneering to make it uncertain in especially Islamic countries in the third world, is the most idealistic country among the westerners and sometimes they have explicitly expressed this fact. You can see that after the intentional or unintentional destruction of the twin [world] trade [center] towers in this country by their own people or enemies of US, some smart Americans reasoned that it was done by Americans themselves,” he said.

“The crusade has just begun;" Bush junior said this, spilling the beans about their secret intentions. This word is enough to prove how they look at us i.e. the Islamic world. Earlier the essay, titled as the Clash of Civilizations, by the Jewish Harvard Professor Samuel Huntington, who has passed away now, was published and translated into Farsi. He says that we would witness a clash between civilizations of Christianity, including the Catholics and the Orthodox, with both Islamic and Confucian civilizations in the future and there will be bloody conflicts separating these civilizations from each other,” he recounted.

“Huntington addressed a conference in Cyprus concurrent with the American planes’ bombardment of Kosovo where the majority are Muslims. He said that the bombardment was one of those conflicts. He supported the extremist measure undertaken by Bush junior. In fact, he held that with war on Iraq, US had demolished the infrastructures in this country to later exchange Iraq’s oil with constructing infrastructures for this country,” asserted the Iranian veteran diplomat.

“Even 164 of American intellectuals, including Samuel Huntington, wrote a letter to Bush and approved of all his measures. Even if we pay attention to Cyprus, we see that it is divided into two regions; the southern part which is inhabited by Christians and Orthodox Christians and the northern part that is inhabited by Muslims and Turks. The interesting point is that the southern region is part of the European Union but the northern part is not yet included in the European Union,” he said.

“Without idealism it is impossible. Even liberal democracy is a cause. So it is not like that they don’t follow any idealism. Basically no political movement happens in the world by any country that is free from the framework of any ideology or cause,” he continued.

Iran’s Dynamism Spells the Doom of Global Arrogance, Zionism

By: S. Nawabzadeh

Leadership, if God-oriented, not only lays the guidelines for salvation in afterlife, but charts out the proper path of peace and prosperity in the transient life of the mortal world. This is indeed a great blessing for a nation, ensuring its freedom, independence, and development in the face of the most adverse plots, as has been proven by Iran and the Iranian people. If the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), who inspired the establishment of the Islamic Republic to make Iran the cynosure of all eyes throughout the world, his worthy successor, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, has ably guided the ship of Iran through the stormy seas of US piracy, Zionist devilry, Wahhabi conspiracy, human rights hypocrisy, and anti-revolutionary treachery. It is this dynamism that has continued to nip in the bud many an intricate plot to mar the spectacular scientific progress of Iran, to prevent the growing influence of Islamic Republic in the region and beyond, and to disturb the peace and security of the homeland through thugs, traitors, and terrorists of all hue and colour. On Tuesday, January 16, in his meeting with heads of parliamentary delegations of Muslim countries, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, as a devoted servant of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) and the Infallible Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt, gave a grand display of not just his insight and foresight but also his magnanimity by saying: "We’re ready to act brotherly even with those from among the Muslim World who were once openly hostile to us.” These words are ample proof of the prudence of a person who strives for the unity of the Islamic Ummah and overlooks the faults of the misled, whether at home or abroad, by having a clear conviction of the eventual defeat of the Great Satan (US) end the rooting out of the illegal Zionist entity from the region.

In his address to participants of the 13th Summit of the Parliamentary Union of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Tehran, he rightly remarked: "The World of Islam, with such a large population and plenty of facilities, can certainly create a great power in the world and become influential through unity. Internecine wars among Muslims must be stopped and we should not allow a safe haven be created for the Zionist entity.” At a time, when the frustrated US failed miserably in its plot to stir sedition in Iran, following the failure of Donald Trump’s quixotic declaration of the occupied Islamic city of Bayt al-Moqaddas as capital of the illegal Zionist entity, Iran, its leadership, and its people, have firmly demonstrated their unshaken resolve to brave all difficulties in order to liberate Islam’s first qibla. This is not a tall dream, as is evident by the setbacks Global Arrogance, the Zionists and their lackeys have continued to suffer, as those inspired by the Islamic Republic of Iran are emerging victorious in all scenes of the struggle, whether in diplomatic circles or on the battlegrounds – in Syria, in Lebanon, in Iraq, in Palestine, and in several other places, despite the treason of the Takfiris and their godfathers the Wahhabi cult ruling British-created Saudi Arabia.

As Ayatollah Khamenei said, the Zionists who are being beaten in the war of explosive weapons – despite their claim to possess state-of-the-art military technology – are about to be defeated in the soft war as well – of cyber technology, which Iranians and other Muslims have mastered, as is clear by the Islamic Republic’s astounding progress in medicine, aerospace, nano technology, nuclear energy, stem cells, and etc. The gist of the latest message of the enlightened leader was that Muslims, if they close ranks and overcome the problems in their midst, including the crises in Yemen and Bahrain, they are capable of soon materializing the cherished goal of a single Palestinian state, without the presence of the Zionist usurpers, stretching from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea. This means, the satanic plots of the traitors to the cause of Islam and Muslims, in any place, will never succeed. -Kayhan International

Consequences of Qardhawi seditious stances

Head of the so-called Union of Muslim Ulama in Qatar Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qardhawi has launched a new wave of Iranophobia and Shiaphobia. Consequences of Qardhawi seditious stances

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - While demanding the Sunni youths to be dispatched to Syria to fight on the side of the opposition, Qardhawi claimed that the Iranians intend to kill the Sunnis through pre-planning. The Egyptian Qardhawi residing in Qatar used an insulting language against the leader of the anti-terrorist Lebanese Hezbollah Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and called him the devil Hassan and Hezbollah as the party of the Satan. Meanwhile the Saudi Mufti Sheikh Abdul-Aziz bin Abdullah bin Muhammad Al-Sheikh voiced his support for the unfounded and biased remarks of Qardhawi against Lebanese Hezbollah and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Living in Qatar for some years, Sheikh Qardhawi has actually turned into a court mullah who has obtained with the support of Aljazeera TV network a status in political circles and the media. The Fatwas of this extremist mullah are aimed at aggravating differences between the Shiites and Sunnis within the framework of the western governments' policy of Iranophobia and Shiaphobia. Unfortunately Qardhawi has been entrapped by the Zionist regime and western governments to ignite sectarian wars in the Islamic states and strengthen the fake Israeli regime. Saudi Arabia and Qatar are the main supporters of the armed groups in Syria who are seeking to overthrow the government of Bashar Assad. The armed terrorists are fighting the Syrian army within the framework of the policies of the Zionist regime and its western supporters for eliminate Syria from the forefront of resistance against the Zionist regime. Sheikh Qardhawi is one of those who legitimize the measures of terrorists in Syria whereas they are actually destroying the country and the Syrian nation under the pretext of freedom-seeking. Representing the western governments, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, the extremist armed groups have entered Syria and committed many crimes some of which have been revealed by independent media. Following the failure of terrorist groups in Syria, Qardhawi and the biased and hostile scholars like him are seeking to deceive more youths with their illogical Fatwas and send them to Syria to shed more blood. The Fatwas are in full compliance with the demand of the western states in a manner that Qardhawi has become known as the Sheikh of NATO. He also assured the Zionist regime that the Takfiri groups in Syria pose no threat to the regime. Leader of the Islamic revolution Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei in his speech on the day of Mab'ath or the ordainment of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) emphasized on distancing from discord and the necessity of unity among Muslims.

Addressing the reciters and memorizers participating in the 30th international Qur’an Competitions, the leader stressed that one of the important commands of the holy Qur’an to Muslims is preservation of unity and solidarity and said: "Any throat or tongue that calls Muslims to unity is a divine throat and any throat that calls on Muslims and Islamic denominations to fight one another is the throat of Satan." Ayatollah Khamenei added: "One of the Qur’anic commands to Muslims is that they should stick to the rope of Allah all together and avoid disunity. In contrast to this command, there is the colonial teach and method whose aim is to create discord among the Islamic Ummah and intensify sectarian prejudices." The leader said that certain Muslim governments have been deceived and are playing in the enemy's ground. He reiterated: "Unity among Muslims is an urgent necessity.” Leader of the Islamic Revolution said that bloodshed, blind terrorism and the resulting tragedies, and creating opportunities for the usurper Zionist regime are among the consequences of discord among the Islamic Ummah. He added: "Today is the day of a great test for Muslims and Islamic governments, and Muslim nations should be completely vigilant." Ayatollah Khamenei referred to the wave of Islamophobia and stressed: "The Western enemies have unsheathed their swords against Muslims; so the Islamic Ummah should strengthen the factors that contribute to its internal power and capabilities. One of the most important factors in this regard is unity, solidarity and concentration on commonalities." The seditious statements of Qardhawi have widely echoes among Islamic states. The Friday leader of holy Najjaf Seyyed Sadreddin Qabanchi said that instead of inviting Muslims to unity Qardhawi invites them to sedition and his remarks are unacceptable in Islam. The United Ulama Council of Greater Syria in a statement declared as null and voids the so-called Fatwa issued by the controversial Qardhawi sanctioning the killing of fellow Muslims. The council added that Qardhawi’s instigation for bloodshed in Syria is far from the principles of religion, Hadith and practice of the holy Prophet of Islam. The statement declared that the conduct of Qardhawi as the head of the International Muslim Union has questioned the union's credibility. The Algerian daily Al-Watan severely criticized the stances of Qardhawi and wrote: "Sheikh Qardhawi who has several times released Fatwas on the Arab revolutions has no religious sanctity to us anymore, for; he has impudently abused his religious status in the service of Qatari regime's diplomacy.” The Algerian newspaper seriously criticized Qardhawi for his resort to provocative Fatwas aimed at creating sedition in the Arab states. Al-Watan added: "The peace birds which Qardhawi was supposed to lay on the ground flew up and instead of them eagles of war landed.” Regarding Qardhawi’s role in the Syrian crisis, the Algerian daily writes: "The forces of Al-Nusra front who fight the Syrian army always laud the provocative role of Qardhawi.” The British Daily Telegraph in a report on the biased and seditious remarks of Qardhawi wrote: "By inviting the Sunnis for war against the Alavis and Shiites in Syria, Qardhawi showed that he is seeking to intensify religious tensions all over the Middle East.” These are just part of reactions to the seditious remarks of the Egyptian Sheikh who considers permissible the killing of women and children for being Alavi. But are these hostile Fatwas compatible to the Islamic teachings? Which part of the holy Qur’an and the holy Prophet’s practice and behavior says that if a group does not think like us they should be killed? In his entire life the holy Prophet respected the life of those who lived under Muslim conquest but did not embrace Islam as long as they did not resort to arms. The Islamic ruler was mandated to preserve their life just as the life of Muslims. Which Qur’anic ayahs allow Qardhawi to dub the Alavis as worse than the Jews and Christians and shedding their blood Halal? What Qardhawi says about Iran and Shiites is unfounded and results from his hostility towards Shiites. Before becoming an anti-Shiite Sheikh he attended the assembly for proximity of Islamic schools and praised the Lebanese Hezbollah and the status of Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah in countering the Zionist regime. The reality is that differences among Islamic denominations do not cause discord and separation. The Assembly for proximity of Islamic schools was shaped on this idea, for; there are far more commonalities among various religious factions rather than differences. Qardhawi and the Wahabbi mullahs who consider discord among Muslims as their goal are well aware of this point. Therefore they try to introduce the Shiite ideas improperly to the Islamic communities and by distorting the Shiite books they inculcate the lie that the Shiites have no faith in the holy Qur’an. Just like the western regimes portray Islam as promoter and spreader of violence, Qardhawi and the Wahabbis try to create a negative picture of the Shiites. With this propaganda, they want with the aid of Saudi and Qatari rulers to distract attentions from the realities in the Islamic world and push forward their objectives. The objectives that the western governments pursue in the Islamic lands especially in the Middle East are implemented by Qatar and Saudi Arabia and confirmed by Qardhawi.

The Rahbar’s fatwa of respect, and unity

Early last month, Imam Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Rahbar (Leader) of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, issued a fatwa of far-reaching importance for the unity and solidarity of the Ummah. It was immediately welcomed by leading scholars in the Muslim world, including the Rector of Al-Azhar University in Egypt. In his fatwa, the Rahbar said disrespect or insult to the Sahabah (Companions), or wives of the noble Messenger (pbuh) is haram (forbidden).



To understand the significance of the fatwa, a brief detour into history is necessary. Based on differences of opinion over leadership after the Prophet (pbuh), Muslims have been divided into two camps — Sunnis and Shi‘is. The Sunnis believe that the process of succession was agreed by the consensus of the community while the Shi‘is are of the view that the Prophet (pbuh) had designated his cousin and son-in-law, Imam ‘Ali as his successor. Based on these differences, followers of the two opinions became so rigidly entrenched that they started to denounce each other. During Mu‘awiyah’s reign (when the system of khilafah was subverted into hereditary monarchy), it was official policy to denounce Imam ‘Ali during the Jumu‘ah khutbah. Umar ibn ‘Abdul ‘Aziz ended this un-Islamic practice during his rule. He was a man committed to the character and practice of the Prophet (pbuh) but his rule did not last long. His own family members poisoned him. They were unhappy with his restoration of Islamic principles to the practice of governance.

In reaction to such un-Islamic practices by the Umayyads (family of Mu‘awiyah), the Shi‘is resorted to their own denunciations. They condemned not only Mu‘awiyah and his drunkard son Yazid — whose army martyred Imam Husayn at Karbala, perpetrating the most heinous crime in Islamic history — but all the Sahabah that had not supported Imam Ali’s position for leadership. These Shi‘is went further; they cursed ‘A’ishah, the wife of the noble Messenger (pbuh), as well. In turn, some Sunnis started to hurl allegations of takfir against the Shi‘is.

Naturally such mutual denunciations have poisoned the atmosphere among Muslims and prevented genuine unity from taking root. Not only ordinary Muslims unaware of the details of Islamic history but also those knowledgeable about it have used such differences to stoke conflict and discord. It must be said that while there are sholarly positions on both sides that want to end such differences because they understand that history cannot be reversed and mutual recriminations do not serve the larger interests of the Ummah, there are others that want to stick to their entrenched positions. Imam Khamenei’s fatwa bridges this gap considerably. While it provides guidance to the Shi‘is to show more respect to the Companions and the wives of the Prophat (pbuh), it also reassures the Sunnis that their sensitivities are being respected. At the same time, it deprives those that want to stoke sectarian differences of a major argument.

The quality of true Islamic leadership is that it is able to lead all the Muslims regardless of their schools of thought (madhhabs). Imam Khamenei’s fatwa does just that. The Ummah must thank him for his sincerity and taqwa.